The department of demography at Renmin University of China (RUC) is the first institution established in China, specializing in teaching, scientific research, training, and foreign academic exchanges in demography, and is the first academic institution in China approved by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council with the authority to grant master's and doctoral degrees in demography, and is also one of the most influential institutions in the field of demography domestically and abroad.

To solve the country's population problems, Renmin University of China established the first institute of demography in 1974, launched the first master's degree program in demography in 1979, started to enroll undergraduate students in demography in 1981, initiated the first doctoral program in demography in 1981, and established the first department of demography in China in the same year. In 1988, demography was approved as a national key discipline by the Ministry of Education. In 2000, the Population and Development Research Center was established as one of the 100 key research institutes of the humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education. In 2000, master’s and doctoral programs in population, resources, and environmental economics were established. In 2002, Renmin University approved and established an independent institute of gerontology in parallel with the department of demography and launched master's and doctoral programs in gerontology in the same year. In 2005 and 2015, master's and doctoral programs in social medicine and health management were established, respectively.

After nearly 50 years of development and adjustment, the department of demography at Renmin University of China has formed a complete discipline system including four majors—demography, gerontology, social medicine and health management, and population, resources, and environmental economics. Demography and population, resources, and environmental economics are national key disciplines. Population, resources, and environmental economics and social medicine and health management are emerging interdisciplinary disciplines formed by the deep cooperation of several advantageous disciplines such as demography, economics, and management.

The department of demography has positioned itself as a leading discipline in China and a world-class discipline in population research. It aims to become a frontier base for population theory research, a 'think tank' for the Communist Party and the government to make decisions on major population issues, an incubator for training high-level experts in population research, and a window for international academic exchanges.